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OKOM- Defining The Texas Music
Revolution- by Mark Zeus
The first time I walked into Blanco's Bar and Grill
I felt as though I had been transported to a roadhouse honky-tonk
somewhere on a back road in rural Texas. There was a big dance
floor surrounded by wooden posts and fencing filled with two-steppers
dressed in their best cowboy garb. Flanking it were plain, rectangular
tables covered by red checkered table cloths. Waitresses and bartenders
greeted everyone with a smile while slinging out bottle after
bottle of Lone Star and Shiner beer- along with some less popular
national brands. The menu: chicken-fried steak, barbecue, burgers
and a few home-style specialties. And then there was the music-
definitely country- Texas country. However, I was not on a small
FM road somewhere between Nacogdoches and Tyler; I was smack dab
in the middle of River Oaks, Houston.
This is where I met Joe Parsons,
who hosts Blanco's Wednesday night "Redneck Jam." I
was first introduced to his unique emceeing style that night:
"In order to be a star, ya gotta have a sing-along.....I
may not be a star, but at least I have a sing-along." He
proceeds to do an acappella version of the Bluegrass standard,
"Maple On The Hill", beckoning the crowd to repeat the
end of each line. We do.
At first glance, Joe seems to be
just some elderly gentleman who gets a kick out of putting together
this Wednesday night hootenanny. A closer look shows him to be
an important conduit for both players and fans of Texas Country
Music. He has supported many acts, and has brought fans to them,
and vice-versa. His weekly River Oaks Redneck (one of Joe's
nicknames, c/o John Evans) newsletter contains an ambitious
schedule of many OKOM (our kind of music) acts. Joe has a propensity
to use acronyms. OFWMP is "old fud with mustache Parsons";
CLWHL is "cute little white haired lady"-his recently
departed late wife Ann.
Joe and Ann began frequenting
honky-tonk music establishments in the '70s and by the mid '90s
spent almost every weekend for the better part of five years taking
field trips throughout the state, supporting their favorite performers
and honky-tonks. They had probably been the two best know figures
in the Texas music biz, who were not actually part of the biz.
One may argue though, that, especially here, fans are the most
important part of it.
Leslie T. Travis is
also a big fan. I met her one Wednesday night at Blanco's, where
she is a regular customer. She is also a part of the music biz-
a DJ at KIKK, a Houston commercial country station. She
has passionately been supporting and promoting Texas music for
over ten years now, by both attending live shows and hosting radio
programs featuring regional artists and their music.
In 1990, while at KILT,
KIKK's big sister, Leslie, along with program director, Debbie
Brazier, initiated a weekday evening program entitled: Cryin',
Lovin' and Leavin'. It continued for ten years, eventually
changing its name to The Texas Music Revolution. She was
able to mix some recordings of regional artists into the commercial
playlist, while also announcing local shows and interviewing regional
artists.
Early last year, KIKK made
a bold move. They decided to begin introducing independent Texas
music and various Americana onto their playlists. Leslie moved
her show to KIKK taking over weekday evenings. For most, it would
have been a tough decision- moving from the No.1 country station
to the No. 3. However, Leslie saw it as an opportunity to expose
listeners to some of the great music they never had a chance to
hear- on the radio at least.
For a while KIKK became one
of the most interesting, if not most progressive, stations in
town. In the same hour one might hear Clint Black or The
Dixie Chicks sandwiched between Charlie Robison and
John Prine, or maybe even locals Davin James and
Clay Farmer. Those who have been fans of the bigger picture
saw this as a significant breakthrough- a Houston commercial station
taking the initiative to expand their playlist to include recordings
by regional artists who most, beyond the borders of Texas, never
even heard of. As it turns out, it seems that most KIKK listeners
never heard of them either. Although it was apparent that new
listeners were dialing in, it was also apparent that core listeners,
who were used to mainstream programming, were dialing out. Ratings
dropped and KIKK was forced to curtail the initiative.
But, Leslie still has
her weeknights with a new show on Sunday evening, Texas Most
Wanted (95.7 KIKK, 6-9pm), and the amount of spins for regional
recordings is up from the days before the format change. Great
new acts keep popping up, and Leslie checks 'em out and talks
'em up. We discussed the dominance of male acts in Texas Music
and that we're" missing female artists." We mentioned
Kelly Willis, Cowboy's Nightmare, Damnations TX, and Leslie
touted a new CD by local artist, Lisa Novak: "It's
definitely not Country, but I'd like to play it." -spoken
like a true fan of Texas Music.
Katie Key is
also a big fan of Texas music. She is also in the radio business-
an ex-DJ at KIKY in Austin (Cactus Katie) who moved to
Houston to become operations manager for Shane Media, a
radio consulting firm. Her entrance into the movement is a bit
more recent. Ed Shane publishes and edits the relatively
new music periodical, Best In Texas, which is dedicated
to promoting both established and up-and-coming artists in Texas
music. Included in the publication is a copy of The Texas Music
Chart. Katie writes feature articles and edits the chart.
The chart is significant.
It lists weekly the top 30 songs by Texas Music artists. It is
determined by the amount of spins each song gets from reporting
radio stations. At the time of my interview with Katie, there
were 63 reporting stations, mostly in Texas, but also in surrounding
states; most are commercial, but some independent and public stations
are also included. Reporters send in weekly playlists to Shane
Media. It is Katie's job to compile the results, organize the
chart and get it out. It is also her job to expand the number
of reporters, and, probably most importantly, work with reporters
in defining the parameters of the music to be included. In other
words, which tunes and artists should be considered Texas.
And here's the big question:
What is Texas Music, and who is involved? Leslie T. cited singer/songwriter,
Susan Gibson: "Texas Music is as diverse as the
Texas landscape." I guess that doesn't seem to narrow it
down much, but maybe that's how one needs to approach an analysis
of the genre. Although this movement is seemingly being led by
Country Music artists, fans and industry folk, others involved
would surely not be neatly included in what is widely perceived
as Country.
Americana is a name
put on all roots-based music that doesn't fit in with any other
genre (I don't think I want to get into a discussion on defining
it any further than that). For several years, The Gavin Americana
Chart reflected it's radio presence. That's where most Texas
artists wound up. It was discontinued in '00. Katie stated, "Some
thought The Texas Music Chart would replace it." Although,
I believe, and I think Katie might agree, that it's apples and
oranges. The Gavin Chart may not be around, but Americana still
is (there is, in fact, a new chart on the web at www.americanachart.com).
Lack of media attention will not stop the music. I believe Texas
music will continue to control it's own destiny. The heritage
is too rich and the fans much too passionate.
I decided to sit down
one night with Joe and Ann Parsons to talk about the artists and
their music. They seemed to know them all- I mean, literally.
They referred to most artists by their first name, often commenting
on their personality and offering anecdotal stories. Eventually
we started connecting artists with styles and sensibilities. There
are the traditionalists: i.e., Ed Burleson, Don Walser, Chris
Wall, Bill Pekar. The story-tellers: i.e. Ray Wylie Hubbard,
Townes Van Zandt, Jerry Jeff Walker, Ken Gaines, Adam Carroll.
Country-Rockers: i.e. Robert Earl Kean, Pat Green, Roger Creager,
Cory Morrow, Clay Farmer. Those influenced by Rock-a-billy
and Blues: i.e. Junior Brown, Joe Ely, Two Tons of Steel, John
Evans, Terri Hendrix, Dale Watson, Davin James. Joe also included
some Okie acts as OKOM: Dub Miller, Cross Canadian Ragweed,
Lawton and Stillwater. This is a very short list and just
an example of the diversity. Once you start talking beyond the
Honky-Tonks you open up another can of worms.
I've heard it
said,"A steel guitar doesn't make it country, just as an
acoustic guitar doesn't make it folk." Exploring the possibilities
of one's own potential, while allowing one's influences to take
hold, may best describe a musician's struggle for balance. We
all do what we do best with what we have, and have been given.
In my interviews, I put out the question, "What do you think
makes Texas Music different?" Pretty open ended, but there
was one word that kept coming up: energy. Possibly that energy
comes from focus on live performance, versus the produced Nashville,
or LA for that matter, studio sound. Perhaps it's because there
are no boundaries set by preconceived expectations, major record
labels, or media. Freedom has energy. Could it also have something
to do with attitude? Texans know what that's all about. Maybe
analyzing the music according to genre is the wrong approach.
Hey, maybe that energy has something to do with the audience too.
So we're back
to the fans. Radio stations use fans to test songs. They bring
in 100 people and play them 7 seconds of each song. Each person
rates each song. Stations use the results of the test as a determining
factor as to what gets played. But, what gets tested? "The
Ray Wylie Hubbard tune,'Conversation With The Devil', could never
get tested." states Leslie T.,"You wouldn't get it in
7 seconds." Personally I'd hate to be one of those hundred
people.
(Continued on article page 2)